THIS BLOG OPPOSES DRACONIAN LAWS & POLITICAL SCAPEGOATING BY SOME POLITICIANS! * THE PUNISHMENT IS THE CRIME * FOR A WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE * WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM? * A) DALAI LAMA: "LOVE, PEACE AND KINDNESS YOU CAN'T BREAK IT." * B) FREDERICK NIETZSCHE: "LOVE YOUR ENEMY." * THERE IS ALSO FORGIVENESS BUT YOU DON'T GET THE COMPLETE PROTECTION UNLESS YOU ACCEPT BOTH OF THE A & B CONDITIONS * & FOR THAT YOU MUST COME TO TERMS WITH C) FORGIVENESS * :-)

Monday, May 23, 2005

UK: Black men are four times more likely than White men to be on the national DNA database and there is growing concern about racial profiling in criminal investigations.

The police national DNA database (NDNAD), launched in 1995, now contains almost three million profiles. The prospect of everyone providing a DNA profile for the database is unlikely because of concerns put forward by civil liberties groups about such a system undermining the presumption of innocence.

However, recent legislation has made it simpler for the police to input DNA profiles to the database and it is now lawful to retain DNA profiles for the NDNAD from those arrested, even when a person has neither been charged nor convicted.

The over-representation of Black and Minority Ethnic men on the database, which Professor Alec Jeffreys, inventor of the DNA fingerprinting technique, has recently described in the New Scientist as 'highly discriminatory', is increasingly likely to spill over into racialised policing. Currently, 32% of all Black males within the UK are on the database, compared to only 8% of white males. While DNA forensic evidence is often presented as having near-perfect accuracy, in fact there is potential for error and mismatch.

It is common practice for forensic science laboratories to retain samples, although the technology, at present, is limited to a small non-coding portion of the DNA, which does not unveil any information besides the person's identity.

The Forensic Science Service (FSS) claims that it keeps samples to ensure a mistake has not been made in the database. Yet, a researcher at the NDNAD has already confirmed that any retained samples may be subject to full DNA analysis in the future.

This would reveal a person's ethnicity and other personal characteristics. The database is already being used for research projects authorised by the Home Office and the NDNAD; one study is extracting statistical information on ethnicity. The dangers lie not only in using the database as a policing tool but also in its use as a wider ethnicity-profiling tool.

Operation Minstead

Last year, an operation in South London was criticised for its racial bias. According to allegations made to The Voice by Nathaniel Braithwaite, a Black policeman involved in 'Operation Minstead', officers had been ordered by their superiors to stop Black men in South London and ask them to provide DNA samples.

Braithwaite was instructed to stop light-skinned Black men, between the ages of 25 to 40, between 5 foot 8 inches and 6 foot one inch. He was told to ask them to provide a DNA sample to assist with an investigation into a spate of burglaries. This action was taken as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into a series of rapes across south London thought to have all been perpetrated by a Black man, who had come to be nicknamed 'the nightstalker'.

According to Braithwaite, if people objected to giving a voluntary DNA sample, they were to be arrested on suspicion of rape; a compulsory DNA swab could then be taken at the police station. Their DNA would be stored on the national database indefinitely along with those who gave 'voluntary' samples.

An article in the Metropolitan Police's own newspaper, The Job, in December 2003, advised all police officers to support Operation Minstead by taking DNA swabs from even those people arrested who 'may not fit the profile' given in the description of the perpetrator but who still 'give you concern'.

Braithwaite objected to the nature of the DNA swabbing operation and this led to meetings with his superiors. He was subsequently asked to provide a DNA sample himself. After his initial refusal, he consulted the Police Federation, which backed his objection to provide a sample, on the grounds of it being a racially discriminatory policy. However, after discussions with colleagues, Nathaniel Braithwaite reneged and did provide a sample.

In April 2004, investigators decided that all Black officers in the Metropolitan Police should submit DNA samples. Having to provide yet another DNA sample prompted Braithwaite's resignation from the Met. (He is awaiting a tribunal hearing on his case of unfair dismissal and racial discrimination.)

The Braithwaite case drew attention to the discriminatory potential in database creation. But it also revealed the limitations of such large DNA trawls. For Operation Minstead had already provided officers with enough detail about the suspect's physical profile and family origins through ancestral DNA. Yet, after twelve years, no suspect had been discovered.

The fear for individuals, particularly those from Black and Minority Ethnic groups is not just the action of DNA profiling for specific cases, but the misuse of this information when it has been retained. By inputting as many Black and Minority Ethnic people onto the system as possible, the expanding, but unrepresentative, database is poised to form the basis for further ethnicity studies, and remains as a permanent tool for racial profiling.

Lab's Errors Force Review of 150 Virginia DNA CasesUS: WASHINGTON, - A sharply critical independent audit found that Virginia's nationally recognized central crime laboratory had botched DNA tests in a leading capital murder case. The findings prompted Gov. Mark Warner to order a review of the lab's handling of testing in 150 other cases as well.

Witch-hunt targets scientistsQLD: SCIENTISTS at the John Tonge Centre are being threatened with jail in the wake of a government hunt for the source of leaks highlighting serious problems in the forensic laboratories.

DNA fingerprinting 'no longer foolproof'...The genetic profiles held by police for criminal investigations are not sophisticated enough to prevent false identifications, according to the father of DNA fingerprinting.

THE BUTLER DIDN'T DO IT!PROFESSOR BARRY BOETTCHER: Now, there should be a law enacted within Queensland so that when cases come up like this they can be brought to attention and if an appropriate authority such as a judge of your Supreme Court considers that it merits further inquiry, an inquiry be ordered.

'Rape' officer clears his nameUK: A former policeman has been cleared of rape after protesting his innocence for 15 years. Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh ruled that Brian Kelly, 47, had suffered a miscarriage of justice over crucial DNA evidence.

New unit investigates unsolved deaths?A new police unit has been established to investigate more than 360 unsolved deaths in New South Wales, with many of the deaths dating back more than 30 years.

Prisoner's bid for review deniedPrisoner Roger Cheney has lost a Supreme Court action to have a judicial review of his 1993 convictions an 30-year jail sentence. Justice Shaw said he was concerned about the prisoner's claim that DNA evidence held by the police could prove his innocence. Although Cheney had requested the results of the DNA tests, he had been denied access to the forensic analysis.

QLD Prisoners DNA Bid THE curious case of Queensland's "cat lady" murder is set to test the state's legal authorities again, with the man convicted of the killing asking the Attorney-General to take the unprecedented step of releasing blood samples for DNA retesting.

Database clears up crimes?NSW Police Minister John Watkins said at the launch of a Sydney conference of international forensic experts meeting to mark 100 years of fingerprinting in NSW. He said the collection of DNA from prisoners and suspects in NSW during the past two years had led to more than 5,400 matches on the forensic database.

A Question of InnocenceKatrina Bolton: The promise of DNA freeing the innocent as well as convicting the guilty has been repeated by politicians across Australia, usually while DNA laws are being expanded. The promise was made as a national DNA database, ‘Crimtrac’ was created, and it was made as NSW introduced legislation giving unprecedented powers to take DNA samples from prisoners, by force if necessary.

DNA testing causes debate in murder caseThe use of voluntary DNA testing in the investigation of a murder case in New South Wales has been applauded by victim support groups who are ill informed about the process said Justice Action's spokesperson Gregory Kable.

ARE YOU INNOCENT?The NSW government has finally appointed somebody (Justice John Nader) to head up its Innocence Panel and has produced leaflets and forms for people convicted of serious crimes (eg murder) to apply for DNA testing if they believe it may help prove their innocence. You can get the info by phoning 1300 881 717 or writing to the panel at GPO Box 45 Sydney NSW 2001.

Is the Westminster System flawed?Most people would say Lady Di got the boot and NSW has so much trouble getting the Innocence Panel moving. I said hey, what's going on!

Murder charge first for DNA data bank link, but not the same as solving the murder Mass DNA testing of prisoners has led to the first NSW case of a person being charged with a previously unsolved murder as a result of a controversial gene-matching data bank. The Herald reported 25 Nov 02 "a DNA saliva swab led to the charging of a former prisoner with the bashing murder of a woman. Police had been unable to find any witnesses or suspects following the murder in Sydney's inner city two years ago. Detectives had admitted they faced a tough job finding the killer."

Prisoners can prove innocence for $20Les Kennedy Daily Telegraph reported today that" Prisoners who believe that DNA will prove they were wrongly convicted will have the chance to prove their innocence for a mere $20 administration fee. The move comes 20 months after NSW inmates were asked to provide DNA for comparison with a databank of DNA from unsolved crime scenes for possible convictions.

DNA yours or mine?Now they have isolated two genes that they say tells you if you're more likely to be depressed. What does that mean? It could mean that you should stay in jail because you are more likely than not to continue your offending behaviour according to a Department of Corrective Services Forensic Psychiatrist.

DNA = Do Not Assume - DNA Controversies!The national DNA database of all known offenders proposed by Prime Minister Tony Blair could mean that innocent people will be accused of crimes they did not commit.

DNA Evidence of BipartisanshipLast week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.

DNA - A Shadow of DoubtOne case points to misinterpretation of evidence that helped put a man behind bars. The other shows just how easy it is to plant falsely incriminating DNA evidence. As our forensic techniques become ever more sensitive, so the possibility of abuse continues to grow.

Here come de Judge - Time to Leave [266]There have always been examples of rulings and interpretations that have supported the saying "The law is an ass". This is increasingly the case, because even the best intentioned judges are now facing an avalanche of new technologies and social change. But, it is no good making excuses for the judiciary and continuing to accept their strange interpretations. We must recognise that not only judges but the whole legal system will struggle more and more. In the end the whole system will become a farce. This is the way empires end.

2nd Renaissance -15 The Rabbits And The Wolves [180]Historically, there have been periods when legal distinctions between animals and humans have been blurred. For instance, in medieval Europe, in the 14th and 15th centuries, numerous trials and executions of animals occurred. One source identifies 34 recorded instances of pigs having been tried and cruelly put to death. Besides pigs; rats, chickens, goats, and bees were similarly tried. Some of the pigs were fully dressed in human clothes at the time they were, inevitably, found guilty. In one case a vicar excommunicated a flock of sparrows that infested his church. All this happened despite the theological stance that animals had no soul, and no morals or conscience. They could not really be guilty of transgressing the Rule of Law.